Nevertheless, I
could easily perceive that the balloon now hovered above the range
of great lakes in the continent of North America, and was holding a
course, due south, which would bring me to the tropics. This
circumstance did not fail to give me the most heartful satisfaction,
and I hailed it as a happy omen of ultimate success. Indeed, the
direction I had hitherto taken, had filled me with uneasiness; for
it was evident that, had I continued it much longer, there would
have been no possibility of my arriving at the moon at all, whose
orbit is inclined to the ecliptic at only the small angle of 5 degrees
8' 48".
April 9th. To-day the earth's diameter was greatly diminished, and
the color of the surface assumed hourly a deeper tint of yellow. The
balloon kept steadily on her course to the southward, and arrived,
at nine P.M., over the northern edge of the Mexican Gulf.
April 10th. I was suddenly aroused from slumber, about five
o'clock this morning, by a loud, crackling, and terrific sound, for
which I could in no manner account.
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